Concrete Permit Rules for Hernando County, Citrus, Sumter and Pasco

City parcel or county parcel: settle this before anything else

In Brooksville, two building desks in the same town both issue flatwork permits. Look your parcel up on the Hernando Property Appraiser site and check the Levy Code. CWBE means the City of Brooksville handles your permit. CWES means you're outside the city and the Hernando County Building Division handles it. Your tax-bill mailing address won't settle it. The levy code will.

Same story across the county lines. Inside Inverness city limits the city issues permits, not Citrus. Inside Dade City limits the city's Building Department does the work, not Pasco. Bushnell is the odd one: since April 1, 2025 Sumter runs permits for the city. Once you know which desk you're dealing with, the rest of this guide covers what a concrete permit in Hernando County or next door takes for a driveway, patio, slab, carport or pole barn pad.

What a concrete permit in Hernando County costs outside the city, and what's exempt

Here is how a concrete permit in Hernando County works for homes outside Brooksville city limits in 2026, from the Residential Building Permit Exemption List and the flat fees in Resolution 2026-037.

Flat fees aren't the whole bill. The county adds DBPR, radon, unlicensed-contractor surcharge and technology fees, and zoning or another agency may charge its own. The resolution also lets the building official price a permit by job value when needed: $18.75 for the first $1,000 plus $6.25 for each added $1,000 up to $50,000. Since March 3, 2026 every new application goes through the county's Tyler portal. The old portal only tracks permits filed before that date.

Where the 500 sq ft patio exemption stops working

The exemption reads "Non-Structural Concrete Slabs (under 500 sq. ft.)" and the county adds that it is "specific to patio style slabs only." A 16 by 30 backyard patio (480 sq ft) fits. A 20 by 25 slab (500 sq ft) doesn't, because the rule says under 500, not 500 or less.

Three things knock a slab out of the exemption even when it's small:

• Future building. The list says any slab "poured with the intent for future vertical construction or structural support shall require a permit." A pad meant for a screen room, a shed, a carport or a pergola with posts falls under that sentence.
• Flood zone. None of Hernando's local exemptions apply on property inside a Special Flood Hazard Area, or on commercial property. The county sends owners to its Forerunner flood map to check the zone by address or parcel ID. Coastal lots around Hernando Beach and Weeki Wachee Gardens sit largely in AE and VE zones on FEMA's map, so check before you assume.
• Easements. Recorded easements along lot lines stay in force even when you see no pipes or poles. An accessory structure inside one needs a county easement vacation or encroachment approval plus written sign-off from every utility involved.

Exempt doesn't mean anything goes. Even where no permit is needed, the slab still has to meet the Florida Building Code, floodplain rules, land development rules and zoning. Our patio and porch page covers sizing a patio to stay under the line when that's the goal.

The $7,500 written-request exemption from HB 803

Since July 1, 2026, F.S. 553.79(g) makes every local building department exempt the owner of a single-family home, or the owner's contractor, from a building permit for work valued under $7,500. It isn't automatic. You file a written request with a copy of the contract or other proof of what the work is and what it costs.

Here's where it gets tight for concrete. The exemption doesn't apply to property partly or wholly in a flood hazard area. It does not cover structural, electrical, plumbing, mechanical or gas work. A job can't be split into smaller pieces to get under the number. And the statute says the local government has no legal duty to the owner or contractor for work it exempts.

Whether a driveway or slab counts as structural is the building official's call, and that call decides whether the $7,500 exemption can replace a concrete permit in Hernando County on your job. Hernando already treats patio-style slabs under 500 sq ft as non-structural and any slab meant to carry vertical construction as a permit job. The county's request form asks for the parcel ID, owner and contractor details, a description and value of the work, and a signed statement that the home is single-family, the work is under $7,500, includes nothing structural or trade-related, and isn't in a regulated flood area. Citrus takes the same request but wants its Permit Exemption Request Form notarized. The City of Brooksville publishes the exemption on its permitting information page and takes requests at its Building Division.

Inside Brooksville city limits: the city's own building desk

The City of Brooksville Building Division sits under Community Development at City Hall and handles every building permit and inspection inside the city. Applications and inspection requests go through the city's online Permits Portal. Plan on about 10 working days for an initial residential review. If staff have to process a paper submittal for you, the city charges a $54.00 flat fee plus $3.00 per application page. Permit cards come by email and have to be posted in a window at the property.

Two city rules catch people. Start work before the permit is issued and the city, citing Florida Building Code 109.4, charges a penalty equal to 100% of the normal permit fee on top of the fee itself. And city single-family permits now expire one year after issuance, or at the next Florida Building Code edition, whichever comes later.

The city's Public Works crew maintains city streets, walkways, roadside ditches and swales. If your new driveway meets a city street or crosses a swale, ask the Building Division what it wants at the street edge before anyone sets forms. Our Brooksville page and the Brooksville driveway page cover the ground and lot types inside town.

Driveway entrances and work in the county road right of way

On a county road, the strip between your property line and the pavement is county right of way, and each county treats it differently.

Hernando. Any work in a county right of way, alley or permanent easement needs Public Works approval first. Normally that's a Right-of-Way Use Permit with a fee, money posted as security and a one-year responsibility period for the work. A homeowner asking for a residential driveway entrance and accepting full responsibility goes a simpler route: once Public Works finds the location meets county requirements, it issues a letter setting the inspection steps, time limits and specs, with no permit fee and no security. That letter is separate from the $140 concrete permit in Hernando County for the driveway slab itself.

Citrus. County Public Works regulations say the Road Construction Division is the only agency allowed to build in a county road right of way, with exceptions that include an authorized connection to a county road by Driveway Permit. The county's residential forms also include a Right of Way Affidavit. Get the width and culvert details from Citrus County before the pour.

Pasco. The Driveway Connection Permit bars any construction in the right of way without written approval, prints a 12 ft minimum and 24 ft maximum width with flared ends, and wants two copies of a site plan. The permit itself says whether a culvert is needed and what size. It requires the driveway flagged for culvert inspection and one day's notice to the county, and it voids itself if the work isn't done in 180 days. Our driveway cost guide prices aprons separately for this reason.

Citrus County desks: Lecanto for the county, Inverness for the city

Floral City, Sugarmill Woods and Inverness Highlands South are unincorporated, so the Citrus County Building Division in Lecanto issues their permits. Everything goes through the county's Accela portal, and the same division runs floodplain management. The county sends anyone inside Crystal River or Inverness city limits to that city's own department.

Citrus posts a short shelf of residential forms that matter for flatwork: the Right of Way Affidavit, an Ag Recognition Exemption form, an Owner Builder Affidavit and the notarized Permit Exemption Request for the $7,500 rule. Septic and well applications go to the Florida Department of Health in Citrus County, not the Building Division.

Hernando's 500 sq ft patio rule stops at the county line. Ask the Citrus Building Division whether your patio or pad needs a permit before you count on skipping it.

Inside the City of Inverness, the city's permitting office issues permits in person or through its online portal, and both the property owner and the contractor have to sign the application. The city posts its own Notice of Commencement form, an Owner/Builder Disclosure, and building and community-development fee schedules. Its published checklists cover sheds, fences, docks and single-family homes; there's no separate driveway or flatwork checklist on that list, so ask the city what it wants for yours. In Sugarmill Woods' Oak Village, the association also has to approve driveway and patio plans before anything is poured; see our Sugarmill Woods page.

Bushnell and Sumter County since the 2025 handoff

Bushnell's permits changed hands on April 1, 2025. Since then, under matching ordinances passed by both governments, Sumter County Building Services is the main contact for building permits, plan review and inspections inside the City of Bushnell. The county now does building services for all five Sumter cities and the unincorporated county.

Applications go in online through Citizenserve or in person at the county office in Wildwood. One wrinkle for parcels near the city edge: property inside the Joint Planning Agreement area with Bushnell may face extra development standards or annexation, and the City of Bushnell still speaks to that part.

Don't carry Hernando's patio or pole barn exemptions across the county line; ask Sumter Building Services whether your slab is exempt before you plan around it. Parts of Bushnell sit in FEMA zones A and AE, and a flood zone takes the $7,500 exemption off the table. Our Bushnell page has the local ground and road notes.

Pasco County, Dade City and the east Pasco towns

Lacoochee, Shady Hills and the Dade City North area are unincorporated Pasco, so Pasco Building Construction Services issues permits. Its When is a building permit NOT required? sheet exempts sheds and gazebos of 150 sq ft or less (with tie-downs and setbacks) and most fences. It doesn't list slabs, driveways or patios as exempt, so treat those as questions for the building desk, not as freebies. A new driveway onto a Pasco county road also needs the Driveway Connection Permit covered above.

Inside Dade City limits, the City of Dade City Building Department permits the work instead. It accepts drop-offs until 5:00 PM but takes no payments after 4:00 PM, so bring payment before 4.

The USGS describes induced sinkholes from irrigation-well pumping in an upland area straddling parts of Pasco and Hernando near the coast, where about 20 ft of sandy cover sits over cavernous limestone. That doesn't change the permit, but it's a reason to tell us about any old depressions on the lot. Town notes for the area are on our Dade City and Shady Hills pages.

Pole barns, farm buildings and barndominiums under the building rules

Farm buildings have their own state rule. F.S. 604.50 exempts a nonresidential farm building, such as a barn, greenhouse, shade house, farm office, storage building or poultry house, on land used for bona fide agricultural purposes from the Florida Building Code and from any county or city code or fee. The exception is floodplain rules, which still apply. The building can't be lived in.

Hernando adds its own rule for open-air pole barns in AG and AR zoning: no county building permit for the barn if it stays open on all sides, isn't used for living, retail or a non-farm main use, takes power from the main house with no separate meter, and meets setback, height, floodplain and land-use rules. Close it in with walls, doors, windows, screening or siding and it becomes a permitted job. The county list doesn't say whether a new slab under an exempt open barn needs its own sign-off. For sheds and carports it says a new slab with footings does. Ask the Building Division whether the barn floor needs a concrete permit in Hernando County before you plan on a permit-free slab. The full price and spec picture is in our pole barn slab cost guide.

A barndominium is a home, so none of this applies. It's a full residential permit, and under the Florida Building Code's termite rule for new buildings, the pest control company issues a Certificate of Compliance to the building department. See our barndominium and metal building foundation page.

Notice of Commencement, owner-builders and the 811 call

Notice of Commencement. Under F.S. 713.13, before work starts the owner (or the owner's agent) records a Notice of Commencement with the Clerk and posts a certified copy, or a notarized statement that it was filed with a copy, at the job. Jobs with a direct contract price of $2,500 or less are exempt, so any driveway or slab priced above that needs one. A separate step applies when the contract tops $5,000: the permit applicant has to file a copy of the recorded notice with the building department before the first inspection. The statutory form expires one year after recording unless it names another date.

Owner-builders. Florida lets owners act as their own contractor on farm outbuildings and one- or two-family homes they'll use themselves, as long as they personally supervise, on site, all work not done by a state certified or registered contractor. Selling or leasing within a year of completion creates a presumption the work was built for sale.

Sunshine 811. State law requires the excavator to notify Sunshine 811 at least two full business days before digging. On a pour, that means before any digging or grading for forms or footings, not the morning of the truck. That call is on the excavator, which on our jobs means us.

Every permit or letter fee your job needs, including the fee for a concrete permit in Hernando County, shows on our detailed written quote as its own line, with no hidden fees. Questions about your parcel? Send us the address and we'll tell you which desk it falls under.